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Barbara M. Kershaw has a passion for learning and sharing her knowledge of the many varied and wonderful forms of embroidery generally called whitework. She has taken many courses and classes from the EAC, EGA, and ANG. Barbara is certified as an EGA Master Craftsman in counted thread. She also studied in Germany at the Museum de Schwalm in 2005 and 2011. She has been teaching for over 20 years at various EAC national seminars, EGA national and regional seminars, guilds in Canada, America and Bermuda as well as two International teaching tours of the USA. Barbara is the author of EGA Group Correspondence Courses – Noel and Individual Correspondence Course Basic Study of Schwalm Embroidery. Her book Exquisite Schwalm focuses on Schwalm filling stitches.

Celeste Chalasani is a designer who specializes in stumpwork and teaches at chapter workshops and at regional and national seminars. She teaches an online class for Craftsy.com and an Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) Individual Correspondence Course on stumpwork. Celeste has been published in Needle Arts, Piecework Magazine, and GPR Designers 2012.  

 Celeste is enrolled in the National Academy of NeedleArts (NAN) Teachers’ Certification program. “Teaching Stumpwork is a labor of love for me. I am passionate about sharing what I know. I approach teaching from the understanding that different people learn in different ways. I strive to provide clear written instructions with step by step color photos, orally explain the technique with color coded visual aids, demonstrate stitches and techniques, and work one on one with each student as they practice their techniques.”

 www.celestechalasani.com

Needle Arts Profile: Celeste Chalasani

Carol Currier is certified by the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) as a surface embroidery teacher. She served on the national board of The Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) for eight years including as national President from 2007-2009. Carol is currently the EGA Chair of the Master Craftsman program in crewel embroidery. She was honored in the September 2018 Needle Arts as Designer Across America. Carol holds memberships in EGA, NAN, American Needlepoint Guild (ANG), and National Association of Needlework Teachers (NETA). She is a partner in a needlework shop in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Marion Scoular is a 3-year, Mark Excellent graduate of The Royal School of Needlework and a City and Guild’s Silver medallist. She has taught dressmaking in English High Schools, owned The Robin Hood Wool Shop for 13 years; taught Adult Education for Clemson University and has judged, lectured and taught in 49 states, Canada, Mexico and Australia. She is the author of many booklets and articles on Embroidery techniques

Jonalene is EGA certified in Counted Thread. She is a member of our Indian River Chapter in Florida and has been teaching various forms of needlework since 1982 at EGA chapters, and events at the regional and national level. She has over sixty needlework publications under the name of Friends in Needlework and three retired EGA Group Correspondence Courses.

J. Marsha Michler is a nonfiction author of 13 printed books, and 8 self-published eBooks on the topics of crazy quilting, embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, wire jewelry, and knitting. Her quilts have won awards at quilting shows, and her work has been featured in national magazines and other publications including our Needle Arts magazine. Holding a degree in Business Marketing, and three-quarters of a degree in fine arts, summa cum laude and dean’s list, she has taught classes on crazy quilting, embroidery, and wire jewelry. She actively pursues crazy quilting, embroidery, fiber spinning, knitting, fiction and poetry writing, ballroom dancing, stone wall building, and resides with her husband and dog in the beautiful and inspiring foothills of Southern Maine.

India specializes in contemporary and ethnic surface embroidery techniques including Yemenite Jewish and Yemenite Israeli embroidery, clothing embellishment, and fabric collage. She also teaches courses on embroidery design, Middle Eastern costume construction and embellishment, and nontraditional needlepoint and blackwork. Her articles on these subjects have appeared in Threads and Needle Arts magazines. An EGA Certified Teacher, India is the recipient of two EGA Legacy Scholarships and one Research Fellowship Grant. In 2017, she presented a lecture on “Embroidery, Clothing, and Feminine Identity in Jewish Yemen” at the Casper College Humanities Festival and Demorest Lecture.

Laura Smith is an embroidery innovator, nationally known designer, and process style teacher.She holds the EGA Master Craftsman in Color and has served as chair for the Master Craftsman in Color Program since 2006. She is a past Chairman of Fiber Forum (2011-2015) and a former director of an arts center.

Linda Wyszynski lives with her husband, Dennis, in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and is the owner of Hearthside Creations, LLC. She is a professional needle arts designer who has over thirty years of experience as an artist creating freelance needlework projects for publication. She began her designing career by painting custom needlepoint canvases for local needlepoint shops in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is an author of needlework textbooks, magazine articles, twenty multi-author books, and The Complete Photo Guide to Needlework (Creative Publishing 2012).

Linda has always been active in the art and needlework community, including the following: CHA Designer Section Council, Board of Directors Society of Craft Designers, and Outreach After School Project program for St. Paul Needleworkers EGA Chapter, needlework teacher for EGA regions and local EGA chapters, Board of Directors Needlework Guild of Minnesota, Twin Cities Metropolitan Art Council Board, and Polk County North Carolina Community Arts Council Committee. She is passionate about needlework and continues to be active in national organizations. She is currently a member of The Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) and The National Needlework Association (TNNA).

Kim Sanders is an EGA certified teacher in crewel and surface embroidery and a Master Craftsman in surface embroidery and in smocking. She holds a degree in Textiles and Clothing from the University of Tennessee. Kim has taught at shops, chapters, EGA national and regional seminars and has authored four GCC, an ICC, and several Petite Projects. Her articles and designs have appeared in Inspirations, Needle Arts, Australian Smocking and Embroidery and The Smocking Arts. She filmed four embroidery focused segments of the PBS program, Creative Living with Sheryl Borden.

Cheryl Sharp has been a member of the Washington DC Chapter of EGA since 1981. She took a wide variety of classes in her chapter, region and at National Seminars before focusing on surface embroidery. She particularly enjoys crewel embroidery and stumpwork, and she adds beads and metal threads to spice things up! She was chair of EGA’s 17th National Exhibit and has been a contributing editor of Needle Arts since 2008, writing the Design Across America series as well as project articles. In 2007, she co-authored A Sampler of Crewel Stitches after examining an embroidery from EGA’s collection.

Kim Sanders is an EGA certified teacher in crewel and surface embroidery and a Master Craftsman in surface embroidery and in smocking. She holds a degree in Textiles and Clothing from the University of Tennessee. Kim has taught at shops, chapters, EGA national and regional seminars and has authored four GCC, an ICC, and several Petite Projects. Her articles and designs have appeared in Inspirations, Needle Arts, Australian Smocking and Embroidery and The Smocking Arts. She filmed four embroidery focused segments of the PBS program, Creative Living with Sheryl Borden.

Marion Scoular is a 3-year, Mark Excellent graduate of The Royal School of Needlework and a City and Guild’s Silver medallist. She has taught dressmaking in English High Schools, owned The Robin Hood Wool Shop for 13 years; taught Adult Education for Clemson University and has judged, lectured and taught in 49 states, Canada, Mexico and Australia. She is the author of many booklets and articles on Embroidery techniques

Jeanette is an award-winning artist in the needle arts. She designed and made the King’s Collar for the Korean production of “The Promise.” Her embroidered and beaded picture Autumn Mystique won first prize for original design in EGA’s Competing Needles competition, “Needles That Sing.” Her unique needle renderings have been displayed in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Korea.

Affectionately known as “The Bead Lady,” Jeanette is a sought-after instructor. She has taught beading for more than 20 years in the United Kingdom, throughout the United States, at Tarleton State University, Texas Christian University, San Antonio Bead and Ornament Society, Texas Appliqué Society, Silver Threads, Wild West Bead Society, Bluebonnet Studios, EGA workshops and various women’s clubs, bead societies and retail stores. Jeanette is the founder of Beaders’ Guild of Granbury in her hometown of Granbury, Texas.

EGA Group Correspondence Courses designed and written by Jeanette include My Favorite Bracelet, Lady Larkspur Necklace(retired), A Frenzy of Fringes, and Cabochon My Way(retired). She is in the development stage of writing A Bevy of Bands, a sequel to A Frenzy of Fringes.

As a member of our Fort Worth Chapter, Jeanette has held the positions of president and other offices. She has served on EGA’s South Central Region Board as Parliamentarian, and as a member of EGA’s Bylaws Committee. She has also served as a contributing author for Apprize, EGA’s teacher newsletter, and is presently the editor of the Fort Worth Chapter newsletter.

Jane Ellen Balzuweit holds teacher certifications in pulled thread and counted thread with the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. She has taught at various EGA national and regional seminars, Embroidery Association of Canada (EAC) seminars and for The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA). She authored correspondence courses for EGA and American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) and designed a petite project for EGA. Jane Ellen has taught cyber classes for ANG and the Shining Needle Society, designed for Rainbow Gallery and owned and operated a needlework store for 35 years.

Carolyn Standing Webb has a degree in education but finds needlework much more rewarding to teach. She grew up in a home where art was a part of everyday life and creativity was encouraged. An EGA member of our Wasatch, Salt Lake City Chapter, she has been a needlework designer and teacher for over twenty years, teaching on the local, regional and national levels. She has a line of patterns available in retail stores. Several pieces of her work have been published in books and magazines and she has won a number of prizes for her needlework. She has her Master Craftsman in Counted Thread. Her goal is to share with her students her love of needlework and to help them relax and enjoy it.

Kim Sanders is an EGA certified teacher in crewel and surface embroidery and a Master Craftsman in surface embroidery and in smocking. She holds a degree in Textiles and Clothing from the University of Tennessee. Kim has taught at shops, chapters, EGA national and regional seminars and has authored four GCC, an ICC, and several Petite Projects. Her articles and designs have appeared in Inspirations, Needle Arts, Australian Smocking and Embroidery and The Smocking Arts. She filmed four embroidery focused segments of the PBS program, Creative Living with Sheryl Borden.

Becky discovered EGA when the national seminar was in Denver, CO and she visited the education exhibit. She remembers standing in front of a pulled thread piece and thinking “this is what I want to learn”. She found the local chapter in Colorado Springs and my adventures began!

Becky has taught classes for her local chapter, local library, various EGA chapters, region seminars and the 2012 EGA National Seminar.

After retiring from the US Olympic Committee where she was Managing Director of IT, she became involved in EGA’s pilot program for Certified Appraisers which she co-chairs with Cheryl Christian.

She has served in volunteer posts in my local chapter in officer positions as president, VP/newsletter editor, secretary and treasurer and committee chair for exhibits, auction, education and luncheon. For the Rocky Mountain Region, she served as region director, secretary, treasurer, region seminar chair, region seminar registrar, and region retreat registrar. She has also served on the national level as Budget Director, Education Administrator, National Exhibit Chair for “Through the Needle’s Eye”, Bylaws Review Chair, 2008 National Seminar Treasurer and co-chair EGA Appraiser Certification program. Becky has been the recipient the Rocky Mountain Region Claire Award and the Gold Thread Award for the region.

Barbara M. Kershaw has a passion for learning and sharing her knowledge of the many varied and wonderful forms of embroidery generally called whitework. She has taken many courses and classes from the EAC, EGA, and ANG. Barbara is certified as an EGA Master Craftsman in counted thread. She also studied in Germany at the Museum de Schwalm in 2005 and 2011. She has been teaching for over 20 years at various EAC national seminars, EGA national and regional seminars, guilds in Canada, America and Bermuda as well as two International teaching tours of the USA. Barbara is the author of EGA Group Correspondence Courses – Noel and Individual Correspondence Course Basic Study of Schwalm Embroidery. Her book Exquisite Schwalm focuses on Schwalm filling stitches.

Kay Stanis is an internationally known fiber artist, designer, Master Craftsman, and Certified and Graduate Certified Teacher of EGA and Kurenai Kai Traditional Japanese Embroidery.  She has been on the faculties of American Needlepoint Guild national seminars, Callaway School of Needlearts, Embroiderers Association of Canada, EGA national and regional seminars, Koala Conventions, South Australia Embroidery Conference, Embroidery 2000 (New Zealand), and many independent groups.

Barbara M. Kershaw has a passion for learning and sharing her knowledge of the many varied and wonderful forms of embroidery generally called whitework. She has taken many courses and classes from the EAC, EGA, and ANG. Barbara is certified as an EGA Master Craftsman in counted thread. She also studied in Germany at the Museum de Schwalm in 2005 and 2011. She has been teaching for over 20 years at various EAC national seminars, EGA national and regional seminars, guilds in Canada, America and Bermuda as well as two International teaching tours of the USA. Barbara is the author of EGA Group Correspondence Courses – Noel and Individual Correspondence Course Basic Study of Schwalm Embroidery. Her book Exquisite Schwalm focuses on Schwalm filling stitches.

Marion Scoular is a 3-year, Mark Excellent graduate of The Royal School of Needlework and a City and Guild’s Silver medallist. She has taught dressmaking in English High Schools, owned The Robin Hood Wool Shop for 13 years; taught Adult Education for Clemson University and has judged, lectured and taught in 49 states, Canada, Mexico and Australia. She is the author of many booklets and articles on Embroidery techniques

Carol Currier is certified by the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) as a surface embroidery teacher. She served on the national board of The Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) for eight years including as national President from 2007-2009. Carol is currently the EGA Chair of the Master Craftsman program in crewel embroidery. She was honored in the September 2018 Needle Arts as Designer Across America. Carol holds memberships in EGA, NAN, American Needlepoint Guild (ANG), and National Association of Needlework Teachers (NETA). She is a partner in a needlework shop in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Kay Stanis is an internationally known fiber artist, designer, Master Craftsman, and Certified and Graduate Certified Teacher of EGA and Kurenai Kai Traditional Japanese Embroidery.  She has been on the faculties of American Needlepoint Guild national seminars, Callaway School of Needlearts, Embroiderers Association of Canada, EGA national and regional seminars, Koala Conventions, South Australia Embroidery Conference, Embroidery 2000 (New Zealand), and many independent groups.

Carol Currier is certified by the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) as a surface embroidery teacher. She served on the national board of The Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) for eight years including as national President from 2007-2009. Carol is currently the EGA Chair of the Master Craftsman program in crewel embroidery. She was honored in the September 2018 Needle Arts as Designer Across America. Carol holds memberships in EGA, NAN, American Needlepoint Guild (ANG), and National Association of Needlework Teachers (NETA). She is a partner in a needlework shop in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Gwen T. Nelson joined The Embroiderers’ Guild of America in 1997.  She is a member of the Louisville Chapter and a member of National Embroidery Teachers’ Association. She has served as the Tennessee Valley Region Director for four years, has chaired two region seminars and has served as the EGA national president. Gwen has been designing and teaching beaded pieces since 2000. She has taught both at the EGA chapter and region levels and at other venues outside of EGA. Gwen designed the pieces that were beaded by the thirteen region directors for the live auctions at the 2009, 2010, and 2011 EGA national seminars and the pieces that were donated by the EGA executive committee for the auction at the 2013 and 2014 national seminars. She also designed the 2013 national seminar logo beaded pin.

Gwen Nelson has been a teacher, Personnel Director for Jefferson County (KY) Government and a high school principal. Gwen has her doctorate In Administration and Finance from the University of Louisville.

Laura Smith is an embroidery innovator, nationally known designer, and process style teacher.She holds the EGA Master Craftsman in Color and has served as chair for the Master Craftsman in Color Program since 2006. She is a past Chairman of Fiber Forum (2011-2015) and a former director of an arts center.

Melinda was a software engineer in Southern California’s aerospace industry from 1975-2013. Through her historical re-enactment hobby, she researched and published booklets on Pictish art, heraldry, and manuscripts. She found EGA in 1992, expanding her horizons to historical embroidery and studying surviving works at museums worldwide. Her first EGA Group Correspondence Course, More Than a Rose, appeared in 2016. Melinda now teaches, writes, and publishes as Threads of History.

Jeanette is an award-winning artist in the needle arts. She designed and made the King’s Collar for the Korean production of “The Promise.” Her embroidered and beaded picture Autumn Mystique won first prize for original design in EGA’s Competing Needles competition, “Needles That Sing.” Her unique needle renderings have been displayed in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Korea.

Affectionately known as “The Bead Lady,” Jeanette is a sought-after instructor. She has taught beading for more than 20 years in the United Kingdom, throughout the United States, at Tarleton State University, Texas Christian University, San Antonio Bead and Ornament Society, Texas Appliqué Society, Silver Threads, Wild West Bead Society, Bluebonnet Studios, EGA workshops and various women’s clubs, bead societies and retail stores. Jeanette is the founder of Beaders’ Guild of Granbury in her hometown of Granbury, Texas.

EGA Group Correspondence Courses designed and written by Jeanette include My Favorite Bracelet, Lady Larkspur Necklace(retired), A Frenzy of Fringes, and Cabochon My Way(retired). She is in the development stage of writing A Bevy of Bands, a sequel to A Frenzy of Fringes.

As a member of our Fort Worth Chapter, Jeanette has held the positions of president and other offices. She has served on EGA’s South Central Region Board as Parliamentarian, and as a member of EGA’s Bylaws Committee. She has also served as a contributing author for Apprize, EGA’s teacher newsletter, and is presently the editor of the Fort Worth Chapter newsletter.

Barbara M. Kershaw has a passion for learning and sharing her knowledge of the many varied and wonderful forms of embroidery generally called whitework. She has taken many courses and classes from the EAC, EGA, and ANG. Barbara is certified as an EGA Master Craftsman in counted thread. She also studied in Germany at the Museum de Schwalm in 2005 and 2011. She has been teaching for over 20 years at various EAC national seminars, EGA national and regional seminars, guilds in Canada, America and Bermuda as well as two International teaching tours of the USA. Barbara is the author of EGA Group Correspondence Courses – Noel and Individual Correspondence Course Basic Study of Schwalm Embroidery. Her book Exquisite Schwalm focuses on Schwalm filling stitches.

Lorene Salt is an award-winning stitcher. Her favourite medium is Canvaswork. She is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnical University in the Fashion Merchandising and Design program. She has also completed the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Canvaswork courses through EAC. She is an avid beader and jewellery maker. When designing, Lorene enjoys watching a piece come alive through colour and texture. Her classes reflect her passion for needlework as she shares her knowledge and expertise with her students. Lorene has been teaching since 2010 in both Canada and the US at the National level as well as at Guilds, Stitching shops and a variety of On-Line classes. She has completed three commissions and has pieces hanging in three countries. She lives in Aurora, Ontario and is a member of EAC, EGA, and ANG.

Carolyn Standing Webb has a degree in education but finds needlework much more rewarding to teach. She grew up in a home where art was a part of everyday life and creativity was encouraged. An EGA member of our Wasatch, Salt Lake City Chapter, she has been a needlework designer and teacher for over twenty years, teaching on the local, regional and national levels. She has a line of patterns available in retail stores. Several pieces of her work have been published in books and magazines and she has won a number of prizes for her needlework. She has her Master Craftsman in Counted Thread. Her goal is to share with her students her love of needlework and to help them relax and enjoy it.

Judy Borreson Caruso stitched her first BDE piece in 2008 and fell in love with the beautiful threads. Now she designs and teaches BDE locally, regionally and internationally. Recently, Judy taught the EGA Online Studio class, Beginning BDE. Judy has taught BDE at the BDE International Guild Seminar for the past twelve years. She also teaches in the Madison, WI area and has taught at a Heartland Regional EGA workshop. Judy is a member and past president of the Madison Area Chapter of EGA and a member of the BDE International Guild.

Carol Lynn Stratton is the chairman of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) Master Craftsman counted thread program, has been a juried member of the EGA Fiber Forum since 2001, is a certified Master Needlework Judge, and is a member of the EGA Judges Certification Committee. Her work has won two Bobby Pilling Awards and has been accepted into three EGA National Exhibits. She judged the 2017 National Exhibit. Two of her pieces are in the EGA permanent collection.

See some of Carol Lynn’s pieces for Fiber Forum 2018

Kurdy Biggs is a counted canvas designer, teacher and owner of Threedles Needleart Designs. Kurdy holds a Level II teachers’ certification from NAN. Her geometric designs have won numerous awards from EGA, ANG, NAN, TNNA and Woodlawn. She has been published in Needle Pointers, Needlepoint Now, and Cross Stitch and Needlework. Kurdy has taught for EGA, NAN and ANG national and regional seminars and in retail shops.

Pat Olski is a professional needlecraft designer, lecturer, and instructor. Her designs and articles, which span an array of topics from traditional needlework techniques to current knitwear trends, have appeared in many books and magazines including Piecework, Vogue Knitting, Knit Simple, and Australia’s Inspirations. She loves to teach, and has taught classes in knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and Dorset button making for years at events, such as Vogue Knitting Live and Knitters Day Out, as well as at museums, guilds, libraries, and schools. She is the author of eight yarn craft books including Dishcloths to Crochet: Fun Designs to Brighten Your Kitchen! (Dover-April 18, 2018). Her newest book, a history and project based title The Dorset Button Book is about to be published.

In a 2019 interview in Vogue Knitting magazine, Pat highlighted her passionate mission to teach a new generation of makers the relevance and approachability of heritage needlework techniques. She lives with her family in New Jersey, USA, and is the president of the Bergen Knitters Guild.

Her website is www.YarnWhirled.com

J. Marsha Michler is a nonfiction author of 13 printed books, and 8 self-published eBooks on the topics of crazy quilting, embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, wire jewelry, and knitting. Her quilts have won awards at quilting shows, and her work has been featured in national magazines and other publications including our Needle Arts magazine. Holding a degree in Business Marketing, and three-quarters of a degree in fine arts, summa cum laude and dean’s list, she has taught classes on crazy quilting, embroidery, and wire jewelry. She actively pursues crazy quilting, embroidery, fiber spinning, knitting, fiction and poetry writing, ballroom dancing, stone wall building, and resides with her husband and dog in the beautiful and inspiring foothills of Southern Maine.

Merrilyn is an internationally renowned hand embroiderer, designer, author and teacher. Magazine articles of Merrilyn’s work are regularly featured in publications in USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Merrilyn opened her first needlework shop in 1978. With an artistic heritage and a passion for hand work this was the starting point for a long creative and rewarding journey with needle, threads and fabrics.

Cynthia Jackson has been teaching, researching and writing about embroidery for over forty years. She is currently engaged in reproducing a 16th century embroidered garland. Her research is supported by the UK Textile Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London Janet Arnold Award. Cynthia is also an award winning textile artist.

Merrilyn is an internationally renowned hand embroiderer, designer, author and teacher. Magazine articles of Merrilyn’s work are regularly featured in publications in USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Merrilyn opened her first needlework shop in 1978. With an artistic heritage and a passion for hand work this was the starting point for a long creative and rewarding journey with needle, threads and fabrics.

John has been stitching for over thirty years and loves to teach and share almost as much as he loves to learn. Canvas work with the variety of opportunities is his ground of choice. His teaching assignments have included national ANG seminars, Callaway, retail shops, EGA regional seminars and individual guilds (ANG and EGA). John is the twice President of the National Embroidery Teacher’s Association, NETA. He is also a member of EGA’s Fiber Forum.

Margaret Bendig resides in Santa Ana, California. She teaches needlework throughout the country and in Canada, in shops in California and Arizona as well as for EGA Region Seminars and ANG National Seminars. Although she loves all needlework, her focus is on counted thread techniques and counted canvas designs. Her designs have been featured as programs and workshops for many EGA and ANG chapters as well as in Needlepoint Now and Needlepointers magazines. Margaret began designing and teaching over 30 years ago. She is an enthusiastic teacher and very willing to share her knowledge. She is always looking for an opportunity to use a skill or method in a new way. Margaret believes that we are never finished with our education and should pursue new ideas daily.

Margaret began designing and teaching over 30 years ago. Margaret is an enthusiastic teacher and very willing to share her knowledge. She is always looking for an opportunity to use a skill or method in a new way. Although she loves all needlework, her focus is on counted thread techniques and counted canvas designs. She teaches needlework throughout the country and in Canada, in shops in California and Arizona as well as for EGA Region Seminars and ANG National Seminars. Margaret believes that we are never finished with our education and should pursue new ideas daily.

Sandie Cormaci-Boles has a passion for learning and sharing her knowledge about all forms of embroidery but particularly counted work, samplers and the history of needlework. She has taken many courses and classes from the Embroiderers Guild of America (EGA) and the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG). She has been designing and teaching embroidery professionally to children and adults since 1992.

Dawn Donnelly is a mixed-media artist with a primary focus in canvaswork. She holds Level 2 certification with the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN). She teaches nationally and locally for NAN, the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) and Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA). Dawn volunteers as NAN’s Membership Chairman and Dean of Faculty. In addition, she is President for ANG’s Magnificent Obsession Chapter. Currently, she is experimenting with handmade paper and finding ways to use it in her needle art, a process that earned her a Best in Show ribbon for her Paper & Stitches at NAN’s Assembly in 2017.

Terry Dryden has been teaching and designing for more than twenty years. Her training in art and architectural and landscape design have inspired her designs which range from delicate florals to bold geometrics and bargellos. She is continually exploring new ways to combine color, texture and stitch, and encourages her students to also expand their knowledge of new materials and techniques to personalize their work. She is a nationally recognized ANG Master Teacher and teaches at EGA and ANG Seminars, regional guilds and local needlework shops. Her designs and “In Stitches” column have appeared in NeedlePointers and Needlepoint Now magazines.

Carolyn Standing Webb has a degree in education but finds needlework much more rewarding to teach. She grew up in a home where art was a part of everyday life and creativity was encouraged. An EGA member of our Wasatch, Salt Lake City Chapter, she has been a needlework designer and teacher for over twenty years, teaching on the local, regional and national levels. She has a line of patterns available in retail stores. Several pieces of her work have been published in books and magazines and she has won a number of prizes for her needlework. She has her Master Craftsman in Counted Thread. Her goal is to share with her students her love of needlework and to help them relax and enjoy it.

Carole Rinard has studied color since she was in high school and has incorporated color theory in the clothing and textile classes she taught at the university level. She is an EGA Master Needlework Judge and a Color Master Craftsman. She has been active in all levels of EGA and has served on the national board. Since 1989, she has volunteered at the Santa Fe Opera costume shop where she has heard numerous designers and directors discuss color in costumes, sets, and lighting. She lives in Los Alamos, New Mexico with her husband.

A member of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America since 1971, Carol Algie Higginbotham is an Embroiderers’ Guild of America, Inc. certified teacher in Blackwork and a Japanese Embroidery Center approved teacher of Traditional Japanese Embroidery. A past president of our Southern California Chapter, she has served on the Counted Thread Master Craftsman committee for EGA, the EGA Biennial committee, the Teacher Certification committee for EGA, Dean of Faculty for EGA National Seminar ’89 and was national EGA librarian. She has taught locally and at regional and national seminars for EGA, National Standards Council of American Embroiderers’, American Needlepoint Guild, and for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her other stitching interests include: crewel, whitework (especially Dresden and Ayrshire), metal thread and Japanese embroidery.

Kay Stanis is an internationally known fiber artist, designer, Master Craftsman, and Certified and Graduate Certified Teacher of EGA and Kurenai Kai Traditional Japanese Embroidery.  She has been on the faculties of American Needlepoint Guild national seminars, Callaway School of Needlearts, Embroiderers Association of Canada, EGA national and regional seminars, Koala Conventions, South Australia Embroidery Conference, Embroidery 2000 (New Zealand), and many independent groups.

Denise Harrington Pratt is an artist and needlework designer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a passion for counted thread embroidery on linen. Denise has been teaching needlework since 1995. She has taught at Spirit of Cross Stitch Festivals, National and Regional Seminars for the Embroiderers’ Guild of America, Inc., and EGA chapters. She also has developed Group Correspondence Courses and Online Courses for EGA. Denise is an active member of the Southern Maine Chapter of EGA.

Kay Stanis is an internationally known fiber artist, designer, Master Craftsman, and Certified and Graduate Certified Teacher of EGA and Kurenai Kai Traditional Japanese Embroidery.  She has been on the faculties of American Needlepoint Guild national seminars, Callaway School of Needlearts, Embroiderers Association of Canada, EGA national and regional seminars, Koala Conventions, South Australia Embroidery Conference, Embroidery 2000 (New Zealand), and many independent groups.

Denise Harrington Pratt is an artist and needlework designer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a passion for counted thread embroidery on linen. Denise has been teaching needlework since 1995. She has taught at Spirit of Cross Stitch Festivals, National and Regional Seminars for the Embroiderers’ Guild of America, Inc., and EGA chapters. She also has developed Group Correspondence Courses and Online Courses for EGA. Denise is an active member of the Southern Maine Chapter of EGA.

Melinda was a software engineer in Southern California’s aerospace industry from 1975-2013. Through her historical re-enactment hobby, she researched and published booklets on Pictish art, heraldry, and manuscripts. She found EGA in 1992, expanding her horizons to historical embroidery and studying surviving works at museums worldwide. Her first EGA Group Correspondence Course, More Than a Rose, appeared in 2016. Melinda now teaches, writes, and publishes as Threads of History.

Laura Smith is an embroidery innovator, nationally known designer, and process style teacher.She holds the EGA Master Craftsman in Color and has served as chair for the Master Craftsman in Color Program since 2006. She is a past Chairman of Fiber Forum (2011-2015) and a former director of an arts center.

Diane Herrmann won EGA’s Gold Thread Award in 2015 and has taught within EGA, ANG and the Windy City Chapter of EGA both regionally and nationally. She has affiliations with EGA, ANG, NAN and NETA. Diane has several publications and presentations over the years to include “Diaper Pattern and Needlepoint” in Crafting by Concepts. Accomplishments and awards have been granted to include the Jean Thomas Howard Scholarship as a teacher in 2009 as well as NAN Exemplary in 2009, 2012 and 2015, among several other recognitions. Diane teaches one of EGA’s latest Individual Correspondence Courses: Techniques for Canvas Embroidery.

Kim Sanders is an EGA certified teacher in crewel and surface embroidery and a Master Craftsman in surface embroidery and in smocking. She holds a degree in Textiles and Clothing from the University of Tennessee. Kim has taught at shops, chapters, EGA national and regional seminars and has authored four GCC, an ICC, and several Petite Projects. Her articles and designs have appeared in Inspirations, Needle Arts, Australian Smocking and Embroidery and The Smocking Arts. She filmed four embroidery focused segments of the PBS program, Creative Living with Sheryl Borden.

About teacher Kay Stanis

Kay Stanis is an internationally known fiber artist, designer, Master Craftsman, and Certified and Graduate Certified Teacher of EGA and Kurenai Kai Traditional Japanese Embroidery.  She has been on the faculties of American Needlepoint Guild national seminars, Callaway School of Needlearts, Embroiderers Association of Canada, EGA national and regional seminars, Koala Conventions, South Australia Embroidery Conference, Embroidery 2000 (New Zealand), and many independent groups.

About teacher Carole Lake

Carole Lake, from Austin, Texas, is an EGA-certified teacher who specializes in manipulating common and uncommon threads and stitches to create textured effects, with a special interest in the effect and symbolism of color. Her award-winning work has been displayed in exhibits throughout the southwest. She has been actively teaching and designing since the 1980s. A native Texan and graduate of Rice University, her enthusiasm for the needlearts has translated into a strong desire to exchange ideas, explore techniques, and share the love of stitching. Now retired from teaching in person, Carole is fond of mentoring upcoming teachers and passing along all the tips and tricks she learned over the years.

Gail Stafford holds EGA Master Craftsman certifications in Canvas Embroidery, Color for Needlework and Design for Needlework. She is the author of Undulations II, an EGA correspondence course. She has been on the faculty of ANG and EGA seminars and has presented numerous programs for ANG and EGA chapters. Her current needlework focus is on translating scenic images into canvas embroidery designs, but she also enjoys Bargello. Her work has won many prestigious awards and has been published in Needle Pointers, Needle Arts, and Needlepoint Now.

J. Marsha Michler is a nonfiction author of 13 printed books, and 8 self-published eBooks on the topics of crazy quilting, embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, wire jewelry, and knitting. Her quilts have won awards at quilting shows, and her work has been featured in national magazines and other publications including our Needle Arts magazine. Holding a degree in Business Marketing, and three-quarters of a degree in fine arts, summa cum laude and dean’s list, she has taught classes on crazy quilting, embroidery, and wire jewelry. She actively pursues crazy quilting, embroidery, fiber spinning, knitting, fiction and poetry writing, ballroom dancing, stone wall building, and resides with her husband and dog in the beautiful and inspiring foothills of Southern Maine.